Elizabeth Jeffries

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Elizabeth Jefferies (1731–1752) was an executed murderess.

She was adopted by her wealthy and childless uncle Joseph Jeffries. He willed her everything he owned but continually threatened to write her out of the will for the transgressions she was committing.

[edit] Murder

In 1752, it seemed to Elizabeth that her uncle was going to carry out his threat. She went to the gardener, John Swan (with whom she was having an affair), for help. They paid a man named Matthews to get them a brace of pistols. Matthews saw Elizabeth and John in the house on the night of the murder on July 3, 1751, and learned what they intended to do. John made him swear not to tell anyone. She and John then went upstairs and killed her uncle. They made it seem as if her uncle was the victim of a botched robbery and raised the alarm. Elizabeth was arrested, but released when no evidence could be found. The police began a search for Matthews, whom she had implicated. He was found and told everything. She and John were put in prison to await trail.

[edit] Trial and execution

Their trial began eight months later on March 10. Elizabeth had been corresponding with Mary Blandy another woman awaiting the gallows for poisoning her father since January. She and John were swiftly convicted and sentenced to hang. On March 28, she was taken to the gallows in a cart riding on her own coffin, while John was dragged on a sledge for committing Petty Treason. When they reached the gallows, he was made to stand on the cart while she, being only 5'1", had to stand on a chair on the cart. Their legs were not tied and they were not blindfolded. A crowd of 7000 came to watch them hang. They did not speak or look at each other at all. Then, the hangman cracked the whip and drove out the cart. John died quickly; he was still in less than five minutes. Elizabeth, being light, struggled hard and took over fifteen minutes to die.